It was just one of those average days roaming the aisles of Whole Foods trying to escape the blistering Texas heat. Unfortunately, the problem with going to Whole Foods with Mia is that the crazy switch that I have yet to find an off switch for flips on and she literally acts like a kid in a candy store. Usually it’s just  a verbal assault of, “ASPARAGUS! HAVE YOU EVER SEEN ASPARAGUS BEFORE? OH MY GOODNESS, STRAWBERRIES! HAVE YOU EVER SEEN STRAWBERRIES BEFORE? AHHH! PEACHES?! HAVE YOU EVER SEEN PEACHES BEFORE?!” Yes, Mia. I’ve seen them. I’m looking at them right now. God I love her but sometimes she reminds me of a friend I had in college when she had one to many. This goes on throughout the whole trip so I have to make sure we go on a weekday when it’s not crowded. But of course, it was a Saturday and I had no choice but to go. The store was packed like sardines and the moment the doors open her eyes got big as mine started to wince. Her mouth opened, and the usual shy child began to speak… loudly.

“OH MY GOODNESS, CHERRIES?! CHERRIES! HAVE YOU EVER SEEN CHERRIES BEFORE? GREEN BEANS! HAVE YOU SEEN GREEN BEANS BEFORE?! CARROTS!…”

Of course, I think this is the cutest thing ever but we didn’t even make it past the berries before out of the blue she starts grabbing produce and stuffing it in her mouth. We obviously got the attention of a Whole Foods employee but instead of kicking us out, she placed a bowl in my hand full of fresh cut peaches on a bed of arugula sprinkled with feta cheese. She was making it to hand out samples and thought it might keep Mia busy for a little while. One of the reasons I love Whole Foods by the way. I handed it to Mia and she devoured it. I didn’t get a chance to get the recipe but I did replicate it and added a few touches of my own. It is now one of our most made summer salads.

Peach and Arugula Salad is the perfect blend of sweet, tangy, and peppery. The ripe peaches, against the pepper bite of arugula contrast yet blend with bright feta and nutty toasted walnuts making this a refreshing and delicious summer salad.

Peach and Arugula Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette serves 4 to 6

balsamic vinaigrette

•  1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablespoon pure honey
• pinch sea salt
• pinch fresh ground black pepper

salad

• 1 cup walnut halves
• 2 ripe peaches, organic if possible
• 2 cups arugula, organic if possible
• 2 cups spinach, organic if possible
• 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

Place all ingredients for the balsamic vinaigrette in a large bowl (big enough to hold a large salad) and whisk vigorously until combined.

Toast the walnuts in a dry skillet over medium heat until golden brown, about 5 minutes.

Place arugula, spinach, toasted walnuts and feta cheese in the bowl with the vinaigrette and toss to combine.

Slice the peaches in half and reomve the pit. Next cut the peaches in 1/4 inch thick slices.

Transfer the salad to a serving bowl if desired and place the peaches on top. Sprinkle additional feta cheese on the salad for garnish.

A bright and flavorful salad perfect for summer.

Did I mention it pairs well with tomorrow’s post, Prosciutto Wrapped Cod?

Hello. I’m alive. This is either a relief or a huge disappointment to some of you. As most of you pointed out to me through e-mail, twitter, and facebook I have been AWOL form the blog since December and for that I apologize.

“What happened?”

“Where are you?”

“Are you ok?”

“Damn it lady I need more food.”

“Have you been abducted by Aliens?”

“No seriously, where are you?”

“It was aliens, wasn’t it?”

“I’m a dude I can’t follow recipes, I need more step by step photos. Where did you go.” <- one of my favorites

All words from you that touched me, made me laugh in a dark time, and changed my mind to quit blogging. Yes, I was on the bloggers ledge about to hit the cancel my host button. You see, I didn’t realize how much ISMS gave me a purpose. A drive to find out who I am, where I fit and most importantly the outlet to learn more about my passions (other than the sidekick and her father), cooking and photography. Sounds ridiculous doesn’t it. My old pre-kid career minded self is laughing at that those last two sentences right now as I eat yogurt from the jar with a baby spoon, in pajamas and slippers, while asking myself when the last time I washed my hair was.

No, Charlie from Wisconsin, I was not abducted by aliens but I fell into a little bit of a hole, depression if you want to call it, and with it came immense writers block, fatigue, lack of enthusiasm for it all, and an addiction to the TV show “Weeds” that I recently found on Netflix. Just to get out of bed and go on with the day to day had become a struggle. Before I knew it my camera had gathered and inch of dust, and the creativity I once lived of off escaped the kitchen. Not even my friends or relatives knew as they probably never read this blog anyway so they never knew I had stopped and something was slipping with me.

Now two months later I seem to be climbing out of it all. And although I do have to give some credit to The Husband and to one of my best friends who is currently traveling the world but allways stops for a phone call, a lot of it is because of comments and concerns from complete strangers. Eddie – for giving me one of the best compliments ever, Judith – for your concern, Charlie – seriously I don’t know what to say to that, and Mary F., Mark, Veronica S., Brooke, Shari from Tickled Red, Michelle from Confesions of A Recipe Junkie, and all of you on facebook or twitter who here and there sent messages asking about me, the blog, or life. I’ve never met you but would like to say thanks for the encouragement and concern even when you had no idea if anything was wrong or not. To those who have e-mailed, I promise I will return them in time, as I have a a lot to catch up on.

I’m not one to usually talk about the seriousness of life, too much of a downer sometimes. So letting you in on a weakness of mine is a hard hill to tackle. Just going to have to take this day by day and remember that depression has a tendency to be like an ex-boyfriend who ran off to Cabo with your paycheck and friend but tells you he’s at his sick mother’s for the weekend…it’s pretty much a bold face lier. Time to kick it to the curb. Hopefully, with time I will be back to posting recipes and such in my sock monkey slippers.

So, what have you missed in the last two months? A little bit of this and a little bit of that:

First of all, a few weeks before Christmas I lost my beloved and beautiful Grandmother. She was an amazing woman who taught us all the importance of family, unconditional love, fun, and to always dance. This is one of my favorite pictures of her. I miss her dearly.

With Christmas came Christmas cards and needless to say it was a tragically painful shoot.

Christmas was a hard one this year with my Grandmother’s passing and my brother deployed in Afghanistan but her smile kept me going.

I’ve cooked a little and have a wonderful review of Texmati Rice, a long grain American Basmati rice, and a lemon chicken, artichoke, and rice casserole recipe coming very soon.

Great news came at the beginning of January, and my brother, Michael, is back in the states stationed at Fort Knox.

We recently spent time at my family’s ranch where I picked up the camera again for the first time in a month.

I took so many shots in fact that Mia gave me this lovely look while saying, “Lady Mommy put the camera down!”

and I did but not before I took this shot of my favorite people and our furry kid, Jack.

While we were at the ranch, we went hunting and were blessed with a massive deer that will feed us all year. Thankfully, my husband is a better shot than I am. At some point I’ll post this recipe for Venison Wellington with a venison mushroom gravy.

Speaking of The Husband, the other weekend he completed his 10,000th marathon and not to mention a 50 mile trail ultra marathon a couple of days ago. Ok maybe not 10,000th but it was up there. I again broke out the camera which made me realize how much I missed it.

Because with a camera you have an excuse to take shots of anyone.;)

Which brings us to yesterday, and we are all still disillusioned that the Giants won the Super Bowl.

Cheers to you all and thanks for the encouragement. Here’s to a fantastic 2012.

One of my favorite things lately is Postagram. I’m sure my family members and friends are getting really tired of me sending them these postcards of my awesome iPhone photography but I just can’t help it. Postagram is an app for iPhone and Android that allows you to instantly send a postcard with a detachable photo to anyone with a tap of your screen. Grab a photo from Instagram (my favorite), Facebook, or your phone, write a message, pick someone to send it to and that’s it. In 3 to 5 days your postcard arrives. Postagram usually attacks me in the wee hours of the morning when I can’t sleep and if you haven’t gotten one from me yet just wait… it’s on it’s way.

Here’s an instagram photo that went out to practically everyone, including my husband. Now the photo resides on my computer. Notice the camera lens covered with flour?

Find me on Instagram as smonkeyslippers

While Mia and Jack are napping, the groceries are in bags on the floor, it’s 110°F outside (no, that’s not an exaggeration), and the article who’s deadline is 8pm tonight is still in my head, I am procrastinating by bringing you this little photo montage. Enjoy.

Today is the launch of a revolutionary food website called Gojee and I’m am very honored to be apart of it as one of their writers! This isn’t you’re run of the mill recipe website. Gojee is a personalized recipe index curated just around what you have in your kitchen. In their words, their putting “the cat’s bananas back in cooking.” Here you will find unique, fresh and tempting recipes not just from anyone but from Gojee’s hand picked food writers like Ashley Rodriguez (notwithoutsalt.com), Jaden Hair (steamykitchen.com), Bobbi Bowers (freshandfoodie.com), Rachel Hutchings (lafujimama.com), Helene Dujardin (tarteletteblog.com), Chrystal and Amir (duodishes.com), Josh Stokes (grillachef.com), Food52.com and yours truley to just name a few.

Go check it out, personalize it to your cravings or what you have on hand and give it a whirl. Trust me, you will want to jump into it right away.

This is Jack. Jack recently ran into my arms on my front porch and never left. This past weekend we took Jack to the ranch for the first time. He was in absolute heaven. It was on a walk one morning that he smelled an irresistible smell he had never experienced before. In seconds he was after the trail to… the corral.

I fell in love with him even more to see him this happy and was surprised when he obeyed all of the comands we have been working on except…

“JACK DON’T ROLL IN THE COW POOP!”

That’s not dirt. Oh no no no.

“What?”

I’ll just remember him from this weekend this way.

For months now y’all have been trying to get me on Instagram and I have stubbornly refused to join another social networking site! I mean really, do I need another app for the blog to obsess about daily? Why, YES I DO! I caved in a couple of days ago, downloaded the free app for my iPhone, and was instantly addicted.

Instagram is like Twitter, Facebook and Hipstamatic had a wild night in Shanghai with a few too many drinks resulting in this twisted love child. For those of you who are not aware of how it works here’s the scoop: Snap a photo with your iPhone, choose a filter to transform the look and feel, send to Facebook, Twitter or Flickr – it’s all as easy as pie. It’s photo sharing, reinvented. Plus your photos will automatically be posted on your Instagram account for all of your Instagram followers to see. I love it because it reminds me of my critique days back in photo classes in college but mostly because I get to view the world through another person’s eyes. It also keeps me from thinking about the dirty diapers I have to take out to the trash too. I am the queen of procrastination.

So here’s what I would like all of you with iPhones to do:

1. If you aren’t using Instagram yet, check it out and if it ruffles your pants download it.
2. Find me, smonkeyslippers, and follow if you choose.
3. I will follow you right back because I want to see what you find photoworthy. No seriously, I really do. Anything to keep me from watching reality TV at night is a blessing!

By the way if you think I am getting paid to say this, I wish, but no. It’s just a way to influence you to get you to join so I get to see what you, who willingly read In Sock Monkey Slippers, is all about! My childhood friends’ mothers always said I was never a good influence. *wink wink* See you on the phone!

…and if you don’t have a smart phone, no worries. In Sock Monkey Slippers’ Instagram account will be uploading to twitter. That is for those of you who really care and I know you do…well at least my mother does…but she’s not on twitter…crap.

… because it’s Monday and I need to get in the car and drive to Dallas, I’m leaving you today with a little photo essay from this weekend’s Miracle Match Marathon that The Husband ran. It’s also a post that reminds me that I should have ignored my insane advertising/graphic design path and followed my true passion in art and photography. Oh well, things happen for a reason and if I did follow that path to the Kansas City Art Institute instead of my alma mater University of North Texas I would not have met my amazing, fantastic and quite handsome husband. I just can’t live without the husband, mia, a good meal, and…

my camera.

I was also reminded how much I am attached to my camera when my iPhone was stolen later that day and all I could think of was, “I’m so glad it wasn’t my camera!”

By the way, what is it about a man in uniform or in action that makes such a great subject? hmm?

In two weeks, I will have been writing, cooking, posting, venting, and bewildering (<-that’s a word, right?) for an entire year. I’d never thought I’d start a blog and I’d never thought it would have become what it is today. Thanks for listening to me when I was down, half out of my mind, standing in a pile of dirty diapers up to my knees, covered in flour and butter, stained with baby food purees and just being myself. Your comments and following this year have been an overwhelming support through my first real year of motherhood (meaning not in a hospital with Mia or in and out of doctor’s offices) and I couldn’t be happier that that I signed on and started this. I hope all of you have a wonderful 2011 full of family, friends, good food and laughter!

A look back on In Sock Monkey Slippers’ first year of most viewed and favorite posts:

family meals:

rosemary and garlic roasted salmon – most viewed post to date. Featured on Tastespotting.com and TastyKitchen.com

walnut & spinach crusted chicken with butternut squash mac n’ cheese - featured on thePioneerWoman.com and TastyKitchen.com

pork tenderloin with peach ginger glaze – featured on Tastespotting.com

the worthless cat, a fall, and a holy pizza – Featured on ThePioneerWoman.com, Tastespotting.com, and TastyKitchen.com, and not to mention my favorite  pizza recipe

roasted butternut squash soup – featured on TastyKitchen.com

limoncino cookies – the cheesiest post I’ve ever written but the most viewed cookie recipe and according to many an e-mail a very popular cookie at communion (I know, random right?)

roasted chicken – popular but only because I think Ashley C. uses it weekly

baby and toddler meals:
crock-pot butternut squash applesauce

sweet potato and beet chipppps! – featured at Tastespotting.com

blueberry, apple, and spinach puree – one of Mia’s favorites

blueberry & spinach french toast sandwich – it’s like eating a cheese danish

butternut squash and peach puree – my favorite puree

carrot, apple & ginger purée

roasted pear and vanilla puree

happy fat tuesday pancake day

popeye meets olive oyl ~ spinach, mango, and pear puree

spinach and sweet potato quiche

mom bewilderedness:

the art of war & strategic peeing – it was a rough day

an accidental tourist in the state of parenthood – the very populaur and first post written by guest writer Ashley Bass

tejano love songs and particle board – ugh, so glad I’m done remodeling

the food revolution is here. are you ready? – the first post that I was asked to write by Jamie Oliver’s camp

boob nazis, the sisterhood, & a few cows – probably the most hurtful e-mail recieved but a vendicating post

girl meets boy – a story about a girl running off with a musican

the nicu roller coaster {mia’s fight} – Mia’s NICU story written for the March of Dimes

red headed stranger wigs & pear chutney – a very popular post but for the life of me I can’t figure out why

the easter bunny, jesus, and a gastric bypass – exactly how it sounds

a recent photo essay from the ranch

May 2011 be just as good! Happy New Year!

a part of my heart is always here…

the brother-in-law and niece